A House hearing on sanctuary city policies turned emotional this week when Marcus Coleman, the father of Dalilah Coleman, addressed lawmakers directly about the crash that left his daughter permanently disabled.
Dalilah Coleman was severely injured in June 2024 when a truck driven by an illegal immigrant caused a crash. The driver had been released by federal immigration authorities under the Biden administration and was later able to obtain a driver’s license.
The hearing, titled “Sanctuary Policies, Tragic Consequences,” was called by Republicans on the committee. Coleman used his time before the panel to tell lawmakers, most of them Democrats, that he did not believe their expressions of sympathy were genuine.
“I reject your guys’ sympathy,” Coleman said. “To be honest with you, there’s no way you guys are sorry. Not one of you guys have ever called me. Not one of you guys have ever reached out to me. Not one of you guys have ever sat there and seen me in the hallways and said, ‘Hey, sorry about your daughter’…”
Coleman said the only time lawmakers appeared to show concern was during hearings themselves. “You guys do it right here while you guys are grandstanding on top of your soapbox. This is when you guys care. Right here inside this room is the only time you guys care,” he said. He added that no one had contacted him about revising what he referred to as “Delilah Law,” saying, “You guys have no pathway to anything.”
He also pushed back on arguments in favor of expanded legal pathways to citizenship, saying there is already a lawful process for immigration. “There is a pathway. It’s not jump the fence and apply. That’s not the way it goes. There’s a process to get it done,” Coleman said.
He closed by saying his daughter bore no responsibility for what happened to her. “My daughter doesn’t deserve this. She didn’t ask for any of this. The people that jumped the fence did though. They knew exactly what they were doing,” Coleman said, adding that he holds lawmakers responsible for ongoing harm connected to illegal immigration.
Democratic members of the committee, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, did not respond to Coleman’s remarks during the hearing.
Jayapal Questions Cato Institute Witness on Labor Needs
Rather than address Coleman’s testimony, Jayapal’s first question was directed at David Bier, a witness from the Cato Institute invited by Democratic committee members. Jayapal argued that the current immigration system is outdated and that the Trump administration has narrowed legal pathways for immigrants.
“We’re dealing with a [immigration] system that is extremely antiquated, and… the Trump administration has essentially decimated any other legal pathways that existed,” Jayapal said. “When you look at the people who crossed the border over the last four years, where are they going? Those are the jobs they’re going into: meat packing and processing, dairy, and so on. That’s where we need workers, and there’s no visa at all for those people.”
Jayapal argued that the immigration system has not been substantially updated in decades. “There’s literally no process right now where we can say this is — these are the jobs that we need in the United States, and so we’re going to make sure that we fill those jobs. I mean, there just hasn’t been any changes to the immigration system in a positive light for over 30 years,” she said.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas criticized Bier during the hearing over his positions supporting increased immigration, arguing they contribute to preventable deaths.
